Bringing strategy to life

UffindellWest won the Transform 2010: The UK’s Branding Award for the design of the new website for BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

With entries from a wide cross-section of organisations from Aviva, The Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Holiday Inn, through to Grant Thornton, DirectGov and Action for Children, this was the inaugural awards from Communicate magazine, and was hosted by Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor.

Our branding experts, Sholto, Rob and Debbie commented on their favourite corporate logos in the Communicate magazine Feb 2010 edition.

Click here to find out what they think of The Open University, TV Licensing and Google logo design.

UffindellWest has been shortlisted for Transform 2010 Awards for the design of the new website for BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. The Awards will be held in March 2010.

2 February 2010, Cass Business School, London

Our Managing Director, Sholto Lindsay-Smith, presented ‘Brand Positioning for Future Success’ at the BrandFinance® Global Banking 500 event.

If you would like to find out more about the results of the latest BrandFinance® Global Banking 500 study published in the Banker magazine then please visit BrandFinance website. Or if you would like to find out more about our presentation then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

Higher Education Minister David Lammy has told universities they need to communicate their value better. Speaking to vice chancellors at the Universities UK Annual Members’ Conference, he said that universities were adept at marketing themselves internationally but the British public’s perception of them was ‘outdated’. Our own review shows that most university websites continue to function as online prospectuses. Universities need to be embracing the best of today’s web functionality to create websites that engage the wider community, serving all stakeholders - including taxpayers.

Read our full article on “Communication value online” or come along to our ‘Creating effective university websites’ lunch seminar on Friday 16th October where we’ll explore the approaches and techniques outlined in the article. Email digital@uffindellwest.com if you’d like to join us.

14-15 October 2009, The Tower Hotel, London

Would you like to hear the results of HSBC’s recent research on internal communication in global organisations? Key trends emerging from this exciting new research include the pivotal role of employee engagement within the function, and the increasing uptake of technology by internal communicators.

Sholto Lindsay-Smith, Managing Director at UffindellWest, and Cami Joerin, Internal Communications Director at UffindellWest, will be presenting with Jo Alexander, the Head of Group Internal Communications at HSBC, on their research findings at the UK Strategic Communication Management Summit in October in London.

If you are interested in hearing more about this event, then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

15 September 2009, London

This 1-day summit will help you to demonstrate the case for investment in employer branding, and will give you the tools to develop strategies that will set you apart from your competitors, while aligning your corporate and employer brand values. Featuring best practice presentations from John Lewis Partnership, Iceland and Coca-Cola Europe, the Employer Branding Summit 2009 is an essential networking and training event for today’s HR and communications professionals.

If you are interested in hearing more about this event, then please email kaye@uffindellwest.com

Times are changing and so are the issues facing businesses. For some companies it may be a case of changing tactics, but for others it may require a rethink of your reasons for being.

The point is that standing still is not an option. You’ve got to move ahead of the game.

We believe companies need to apply some simple moves if they are to succeed against the challenges ahead. Moves that are easy to understand, quick to apply and have a lasting and positive affect.

It could mean reconnecting with your customers by demonstrating what makes what you do so special. And letting people know why it’s worth it – even though it might cost a little more.

Or it could simply be revitalising your communications by injecting a renewed sense of energy and direction for the messages you want to convey.

But increasingly, it’s about reaching people within your company – to remind them what makes your business a great place to work - and encourage them to show it in all they do.

Whatever aspects of your brand, marketing or communications are causing you concern our methods are geared for now. We’ll encourage you to be a part of the process so we don’t waste time searching for answers. Combining your inside knowledge with our insights and experience ensures that the recommendations we make are the ones you can deliver and live up to.

And time is of the essence if you want to be the one to thrive in this changing world.

Customers as well as employees are losing faith in business. They want – and need a reason – to trust in you again. Nearly half of employees don’t know their company’s vision. Given this, and the current cynicism towards business and its contribution to society, you should be focusing on your reason for being, not just return on investment.

That’s the key to nurturing bonds with your employees that are both emotional and rational.

Reconnecting with your vision and values enables you to foster stronger relationships with your customers and achieve higher levels of internal engagement.

Working closely with your leadership teams, management and front-line staff, we will assess your current values and how relevant and meaningful they are to people. We’ll also explore innovative and creative ways of bringing to life who you are and what you stand for.

And through innovative engagement programmes we’ll help to remove any barriers between employer, employees and their customers, inspiring them all with a shared sense of purpose they can believe in.

Our work spans

• Qualitative customer and stakeholder research
• Quantitative research
• Competitor mapping and benchmarking
• Internal stakeholder research
• Employee proposition development
• Key message development
• Stakeholder management
• Alignment with business initiatives
• Embedding framework planning
• Workshops, events, tools and training
• Behaviour definition and change
• Internal communications
• Brand language

Today’s customers are smarter about how much they spend, what they’re buying and who they’re buying it from. Around 58% of them are now focusing on what they need, rather than what they want - up by 7% on 2008. With business experts believing that such customer attitudes will linger long after the recession ends, are you in touch with exactly what’s changed and how that change is impacting on your customers?

Your information, insights and experiences may no longer count. Simply doing what you’ve done before because it succeeded then is not the answer. What you need to know is what you need to do to succeed now.

Our research led approach, combined with our marketing and creative capabilities will help to reveal whether you need to switch your attentions elsewhere. Or whether you need to adjust – or totally change – what you offer and how you offer it.

Whatever the answer, we’ll give you the confidence to act.

Customers and employees are the ones who matter most to you. Consulting them rather than the usual economic bell-weathers is essential to thrive in this climate. The times demand action and so do they.

Because if you don’t do something for your customers, someone else will.

Our work spans

• Qualitative market research
• Audience segmentation
• Key message development
• Best practice models
• Marketing strategy
• Brand identity
• Naming
• Creative platform development
• Campaign planning and execution
• Content generation and copywriting
• Marketing literature
• Digital